This interdisciplinary study was the accumulation of a three year evaluation of the Australian Government's Stronger Families and Communities Strategy 2000-2004, which produced more than 20 separate reports. Using a mixed method design, the research focused on projects funded under the seven community-based linked initiatives of the Strategy to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the Government's $80 million investment to strengthen communities and families, with a particular focus on Indigenous communities and families. The research provided a qualitative cost-benefit analysis and identified that projects had increased the capacity of local organisations, as well as the capacity of families and communities. Follow-up interviews with staff and project participants from a sample of completed projects found that 84% were continuing project activities at some level after the Strategy funding had ended, a third of these in an expanded form. Additionally, 240 projects were identified as having produced resources such as websites, training manuals, or parent guides. The research findings were cited by Department of Families, Community Services, Indigenous Affairs and Housing as informing policy development, including its $142 million investment in the Communities for Children initiative. The study was awarded the "Best Evaluation Study" by the Australasian Evaluation Society (AES) in 2007.